Violin



Dec. 9, 1941; LLLL Fo 2,265,456

VVVV IN Patented Dec. 9, 17941 UNITED STATES P'I'ENT OFFICE VIOLIN Leonard Sofo, Chicago, Ill.

Application January 15, 1940, Serial No. 313,833

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of violin mutes and the mounting thereof on violins.

The function of the mute in softening or mufiiing the tone of violins has long been known, and many attempts have been made to provide mutes or" various constructions for accomplishing the desired results conveniently. The completely detachable mute, consisting of a small U-shaped device designed to straddle the strings and be pushed downward onto the bridge, has come into the greatest use, but the fact that it is so easily lost or misplaced has given rise to recurrent attempts to provide more complicated muting devices that cannot be completely detached from the violin. Lever-operated muting devices have been designed but none of them have gained any considerable favor. During the playingof compositions of considerable length, such as certain classical compositions, the mute may be used frequently though not constantly, and when removed for a time, the violinist ordinarily will place the detachable mute in his coat or vest pocket, or sometimes on the edge of his chair. When he again needs it, he often has difiiculty in finding it. That this difficulty of keeping the mute at hand where it may be found readily is widely recognized, is evidenced in various prior patents which provide for some manner of at- .taching the mute, when not in use, to the tail piece. None of these expedients have met with practical success, generally due to some inherent disadvantage in the particular constructions employed.

I have devised a form of detachable mute and a means for mounting it on the tail piece which is now regarded by violinists as a satisfactory solution of the above described difficulties. In carrying out my invention, I provide a U-shaped mute and a pair of holes in the tail piece in which the legs of the mute may be mounted when the mute is not in use. The mute itself, is especially designed with reference to the manner of mounting it in the tail piece, yet without creating any new difficulties in the use of the mute nor interfering with its desired muiiling effect.

The general object of the invention therefor, is to provide a new form of mute and means for mounting the same on the violin to facilitate the convenient use of the mute in a normal manner.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved detachable mute and simpliiied mounting means therefor which will enable violinists to use the mute without requiring any disturbing departure from the customary methods of using such detachable mutes.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a perusal of the following specification.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective View of a violin showing my improved mute mounted on the tail piece.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view through the mute and tail piece on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 oi Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the mute itself.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View of a modiiied form of the mute.

Referring now to the drawing, the mute consists of a cross member l and a pair of legs 2 and 3. Each leg is slotted to enable it to straddle the bridge 4 of the violin, the mute being shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 in that position. When so mounted on the bridge, it mules the tone of the violin in the usual manner. A horizontal sectional View through the legs of the mute is shown in Fig. 3, wherein it will be noted that while the holes 5 and 6 in the tail piece are circular, the cross section of each mute leg is elliptical. Also, as shown in Fig. 2, each leg tapers downwardly toward its lower end whereby when the legs of the mute are inserted into the holes of the tail piece 1, they cannot bind so tightly in the holes as to make it diiiicult to remove them. Since the legs are bifurcated and tapered, the bifurcated portions of each leg will spring together slightly, when they are inserted into the tail piece, thereby holding the mute snugly and securely in the tail piece. Thus, when the violin is moved around more or less carelessly between successive compositions or engagements, there is no danger that the mute will fall from the tail piece.

In order to facilitate removal of the mute from the tail piece without jerk or snap which might make a disturbing sound, I have designed the cross member of the tail piece, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to provide a taper on its under side at 8 and 9. Hence, when the mute is mounted on the tail piece the violinist may conveniently remove it with his thumb and Iirst or second linger by attempting to insert the tips of these nngers underneath the cross piece and applying a squeezing action on the mute. Inasmuch as the cross member will lie so close to the top of the tail piece that the finger tips 55 cannot be inserted far enough to meet each other, the attempt to do so coupled with the tapered surfaces H and l2 will cause the nger tips simultaneously to be pressed against the tail piece and the mute, with the result that the mute will be lifted from the tail piece smoothly, without jerk or sound.

In order to attain this wedging action, to cause the finger tips to press against the tail piece and meet simultaneously, the holes in the tail piece and the mute will be so designed that when the latter is seated snugly in the tail piece there will not be a clearance under the cross member suicient for the free insertion of the finger tips.

A most Welcome advantage of my invention is found in the fact that, When shifting the mute from the bridge to the tail piece, or when removing it from the latter, the violinist can still retain the bow in the hand with which he customarily grips the bow.

The taper of the mute legs is such that the mute will not bind in the tail piece holes even though the mute be rocked somewhat when being lifted from the tail piece.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a cross sectional View similar, to that of Fig. 2, of a modified form of the mute, the modification consisting merely in providing a downwardly expanding taper on the exterior surface of the mute legs, in contrast to the downwardly contracting taper shown in Fig. 2, This reversed taper is so proportioned relatively to the tail piece holes that the bifurcated legs of this form of the mute are squeezed together as soon as the mute is inserted into the holes. As the tail piece holes are circular and have a uniform bore, the compression of the mute legs do not vary as they are pushed further into the holes. This tapered construction is also found to be eifective in providing a firm mounting of the mute on the tail piece.

The mute, as shown in the drawing, has parallel-sided slots I I and l2 to facilitate securing the mute snugly on the bridge of the violin. Violin bridges at present, are customarily tapered slightly and as the legs of my mute are resilient, the parallel-sided slots will be expanded as the mute is forced down on the bridge to make them parallel with the sides of the bridge, whereby the mute is snugly held by a large contact area against accidental dislodgement.

One of the outstanding advantages of this invention is that a violinist need not change his customary manner of applying the mute to the bridge. By placing the mute on the tail pierce, when not in use, he is saved the embarrassment of having to search for it in his pockets, on the edge of his chair or onl the floor, when it is again needed. The drilling of the holes in the tail piece does not affect the tonal qualities of the violin. All of these advantages are made available to the violinist without undue expense. In fact, by avoiding the customary loss of mutes, the users of my invention will also save the cost of frequent replacements.

As to the composition of the mute, it may be made of hard wood, hard rubber, or it may even be made of some light metal such as aluminum. Any of these materials lend themselves readily to the production of a mute having resilient slotted legs and having the proper muiiling effect upon the Violin.

The simplicity of the invention will readily be appreciated by anyone. What will be observed by violinists is that no auxiliary attachments are required in order to attain the objects of the invention. Violinists have learned from experience that auxiliary attachments are apt to produce undesirable, sympathetic vibrations on certain notes.

It should be explained that this invention is useful not only on ordinary violins but also on such closely related instruments as violas and cellos, and where in the claims I mention violins I intend to include other such instruments of the viol class which are played with a bow.

It should be understood that while I have shown and described herein a preferred form of the invention, it is nevertheless, subject to some variation or modification within the scope of the appended claims.

Having shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination of a mute of the type having a cross member and a pair of legs slotted for mounting on a violin bridge, and a violin tail piece having a pair of holes in which the mute legs are frictionally engaged, said holes and legs being so shaped and related that when the mute legs are snugly mounted in the tail piece holes there will be insufficient clearance under the cross member t0 permit free insertion of the nger tips, whereby the forcible insertion of the :linger tips will lift the mute smoothly from the tail piece.

2. The combination of a mute of the type having a cross member and a pair of legs slotted for mounting on a violin bridge, and a violin tail piece having a pair of holes in which the mute legs are frictionally engaged, said holes and legs being so shaped and related that when the mute legs are snugly mounted in the tail piece holes there will be insuflicient clearance under the cross member to permit free insertion of the finger tips, whereby the forcible insertion of the finger tips will lift the mute smoothly from the tail piece, the exterior surface of the legs being tapered to permit rocking of the mute during removal.

3. The combination of a violin tail piece having a pair of circular holes spaced to receive the legs r of a mute, and a mute of the type having a cross member and va pair of bifurcated legs slotted for mounting upon a violin bridge, said legs having an external transverse elliptical cross section and being frictionally engaged in said holes.

4. The combination of a violin tail piece having a pair of circular holes spaced to receive the legs of a mute, and a mute of the type vhaving a cross member and a pair of externally tapered legs of resilient material slotted for mounting upon a violin bridge and frictionally engaged in said holes.

5. The combination of a violin tail piece having a pair of circular holes spaced for receiving the legs of a mute, and a mute of the type having a cross member and a pair of legs frictionally engaged in said holes slotted for embracing a violin bridge and formed of resilient material, the external horizontal cross section of the legs being generally elliptical, the exterior surface of the legs being tapered downwardly toward their extremities.

6. The combination of a violin tail piece having a pair of circular holes spaced for receiving the legs of a mute, and a mute having a pair of legs frictionally engaged in said holes and slotted for embracing a violin bridge and formed of resilient material, the external horizontal cross section of the legs being generally elliptical, the mute having a cross member connecting the legs which is provided with a downwardly tapered under surface whereby the insertion of the violinists fingers into the space between the bottom of the cross member and the top of the tail piece will force the lingers against the tail piece and tend to lift the mute from the tail piece.

7. The combination of a violin tail piece having a pair of holes therein spaced to receive the legs of a mute, and a mute of the type having a cross member and a pair of legs frictionally engaged in said holes and slotted for mounting upon a violin bridge, the external surface of the mute legs being so shaped with relation to said holes that they may be inserted therein snugly enough to be held securely during normal use of a violin but Will not bind enough to unduly hinder removal and create undue noise when the mute is lifted by the middle of its cross member.

8. The combination of a Violin tail piece having a pair of holes therein spaced to receive the legs of a mute, and a mute of the type having a cross member and a pair of legs frictionally en gaged in said holes and slotted for mounting upon a violin bridge, the external surface of the mute legs being so shaped with relation to said holes that they may be inserted therein snugly enough to be held securely during normal use of a violin but will not bind enough to unduly hinder removal and create undue noise when the mute is lifted by the middle of its cross member, the Whole being so proportioned that when the mute legs are held snugly by the tail piece holes the clearance between the tail piece and cross member of the mute will be insufficient for the ccmplete insertion of the violinists linger tips.

LEONARD SOFO. 

